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Shoals Marine Laboratory Archaeology Underwater DRAFT
Dr. Niall Brady (PhD Cornell 1997), Archaeologist
e-mail: niall@discoveryprogramme.ie
Title: Maritime and Underwater Archaeology: introducing Cultural
History as experienced in a Maritime context
Target Audience: Undergraduate/Graduate students/CPD Mature students who are seeking
an advanced introductory course that includes active fieldwork.
Pre-requisites: Open to all majors of college undergraduates. For those who wish to
SCUBA dive; must have Nationally recognized Open-water SCUBA
certification, and approved diver application (see SML website).
Snorkeling will be part of the course for all who pass the snorkel test.
Overview: As a special interest area, Maritime Archaeology explores the
development of humankind by exposing and examining the cultural
artefacts that our ancestors have left us throughout the coastal zone, both
along the foreshore and underwater. Coastal settlements, midden deposits
and shipwreck sites are perhaps the more obvious indicators of this rich
material assemblage, while island communities invariably combine all
three elements to present exceptionally important case studies for
research. This course outlines the development of Maritime Archaeology
as it has emerged from more traditional terrestrial archaeology and the
still-young discipline of Underwater Archaeology. Today, such
archaeology is also intrinsically integrated with environmental/biological
science and with GIS approaches to data recording. Remote-sensing
technology (including Side-scan Sonar) have come to enhance the survey
capabilities of all projects and permit unprecedented access to the
seabed. As its primary examples, the course focuses on the archaeology
of the Isles of Shoals within the Gulf of Maine; it also conducts onsite
survey and site investigations to create an in-depth archaeological and
historical study of the Isles. Students will participate in active fieldwork,
which will include foreshore study and underwater exploration, the
results of which will lay the basis for a long-term analysis of the
archaeological potential that surrounds the islands on and under water.
Rationale: SML sponsored courses in Underwater Archaeology in the late 1980s-
90s. During this time, a useful body of information was assembled that
highlighted the archaeological potential of the Isles both in terms of its
underwater environment and, in association with related land-based
work, its terrestrial environment. The data that was acquired satisfied the
immediate needs of providing an undergraduate teaching facility. In the
intervening decade since the course was taught on Appledore, the subject
area has witnessed dramatic development, in terms of the techniques
deployed as well as the intellectual understanding of what the data
Maritime Archaeology Proposal, SML. Niall Brady, Nov 2007, 1 of 5
reveals. Interestingly, US-based students now have to travel to Europe to
find a teaching environment for this field.
SML continues to provide an ideal learning environment for Maritime
Archaeology. During the seventeenth century, the islands were used as
an important base of operations for the North Atlantic cod fishing
industry, and middens (rubbish heaps) survive on the seabed at
Smuttynose/Gosport Harbour from this period. The middens have never
been scientifically mapped or investigated, and they present an ideal
opportunity to advance our understanding of the commercial fishery
operations that made the islands an important facility at this time. The
investigation of the middens and their association with the remnants of
the land-based structures would present an important contribution to a
subject area that is too often examined exclusively from a European
perspective.
It is also the case that the Isles witnessed the wrecking of many ocean-
going and more locally-based vessels over the years. Records of these
dramatic and often tragic events are preserved in the archives of
Portsmouth Museum, but it is the case that few actual wrecksites have
been identified around the Isles. The challenge remains to discover new
wrecksites, and the deployment of state-of-the-art surveying equipment,
such as side-scan sonar, would help to resolve this matter. Such
deployment would also serve as an ideal teaching environment to address
the growing island-wide interest in GIS mapping and position-fixing
using satellite technology. While the data acquired would serve the
archaeological class directly, it would also be of interest and benefit to a
wide range of marine scientists, since it records in great detail the
underlying geology as well as patterns of deposition/erosion, etc. that are
exposed on the dynamic seabed.
In the same vein, the archaeological class would benefit from island-
based specialists who pursue such areas a marine flow dynamics,
geology, and natural growth patterns in terms of plant life and fish stock
since all of these agencies have a bearing on understanding how the
archaeological imprint has survived or might survive.
In conclusion, it is probable that there is now a renewed market for SML
to tap into in terms of maritime archaeological enthusiasts. The subject
area has experienced significant development over the last decade, and
more than ever is integrated closely with marine scientific approaches in
the widest sense. There is consequently a natural meeting ground
between archaeologists and natural scientists, and SML would be a most
appropriate venue for this meeting of the minds. If the subject was
presented previously as an undergraduate teaching program, there is
merit today in taking it to a more advanced level, where the work
conducted would be part of a longterm scientific research project that
seeks to reveal the complex human imprint that has developed on the
Isles. A starting point for such research is the seventeenth-century fish
processing chapter.
Maritime Archaeology Proposal, SML. Niall Brady, Nov 2007, 2 of 5
Primary Instructor: Niall Brady is a graduate of University College Dublin (BA in
Archaeology and Geography 1983, MA in Archaeology 1986) and
received his PhD from Cornell in 1997 (Medieval Studies). He assisted
in teaching the Underwater Archaeology courses at SML during the
1990s. Since returning to Ireland in 1997, he has set up The
Archaeological Diving Company (www.adco-ie.com), which has become
Ireland’s primary underwater archaeological company. In returning to
SML, Niall is able to share his experience in developing and
championing a commercial archaeological company that has conducted
numerous surveys as well as some significant underwater excavation
projects. Since 2002, Niall has also been project director of the
Discovery Programme’s Medieval Rural Settlement Project (MRSP)
(www.discoveryprogramme.ie). The Programme is Ireland’s primary
archaeological research institution, and is tasked with exploring
questions and areas of Ireland’s cultural heritage that have remained
poorly researched or neglected. The MRSP (2002-8) is contributing
significant new insight to the manner in which daily life was lived in the
Irish countryside during the period c. 1100-1650 AD. A series of
monographs is underway to bring the findings to completion. Niall
lectures widely in Europe and North America, and has published
extensively.
Provisional Schedule: In general: each day would be divided in two, with class-work
occupying one half and site work occupying the other half, weather and
tides permitting. Lectures would last 50 minutes with a discussion period
to follow for 30 minutes. Dive sessions would run for 4 hours, between
mobilization, site work, and demobilization. Fieldwork sessions would
run for 3 hours.
The majority of the instruction would be conducted by Niall Brady (NB).
Island-support would be required in terms of equipment provision
(Powerpoint projector); dive assistance (safety diver on standby and
general equipment provisions); boat support assistance. External support
to be sought from Klein Systems Ltd to provide instruction in and
deployment of side-scan sonar survey unit. External support also to be
sought from Portsmouth Museum and Naval Shipyard in terms of
providing guided tours of respective resources and archives, if weather
proves foul on-island.
Course Grade: Grade allocation will be based on a combination of in-class/on-site
engagement (20%); in-class test (20%); and open-book written
assignment (60%). The in-class test will run for one hour and be based
on a series of multiple-choice questions and mini-discussions. The open-
book assignment will be based on individual reading assignments that
examine a series of different excavation/project reports, which will be
handed out on Day 2.
Maritime Archaeology Proposal, SML. Niall Brady, Nov 2007, 3 of 5
Day Item Requirements/Logistics
-1* • Mobilization to Island • NB arrives on site; liaises
with other faculty;
prepares the teaching
environment
0* • Students arrive on Island, p.m. •
• Course Outline presentation and • NB (instructor),
review Powerpoint Projector
• Lecture 1: Introduction to • NB (instructor),
Maritime Archaeology Powerpoint Projector
1 • Dive 1: Health and Safety check • NB, JC, other island dive
assessors, boat safety
support
• Lecture 2: Material Culture I & • NB (instructor),
II: artefacts & monuments Powerpoint Projector
• Audio-Visual 1: documentary on • NB (instructor),
aspects of maritime archaeology Powerpoint Projector
2 • Fieldtrip 1: Walking Tour of • NB, other available island
Appledore Island as an instructors who might like
archaeological maritime to participate in terms of
landscape the natural environment
• Dive 2: Introduction to • NB, boat & dive safety
Smuttynose/Gosport Harbour support
and its underwater middens
• Lecture 4: A history of • NB (instructor),
shipbuilding from earliest times Powerpoint Projector
to 1800
• Allocation of class assignments • NB
3 • Dive 3: Survey of • NB, boat & dive safety
Smuttynose/Gosport Harbour support
Middens, 1
• Lab 1: Artefact Conservation • NB (instructor),
techniques Powerpoint Projector
• Audio-Visual 2: documentary on • NB (instructor),
aspects of maritime archaeology Powerpoint Projector
4a** • Lecture 5: Remote-sensing • NB (instructor),
techniques in Archaeology Powerpoint Projector
• Dive 4: Survey of • NB, boat & dive safety
Smuttynose/Gosport Harbour support
Middens, 2
• Audio-Visual 3: documentary on • NB (instructor),
aspects of maritime archaeology Powerpoint Projector
4b** • Lecture 5: Introduction to Side- • Gary Kozack, Klein
scan Sonar survey Systems Ltd.
• Fieldtrip 2: Side-scan Sonar • Gary Kozack, Klein
survey around the Isles Systems Ltd & JV
Kingsbury
• Night dive, Appledore • NB, boat & dive safety
support
5 • Dive 5: Excavation of • NB, boat & dive safety
Smuttynose/Gosport Harbour support
Midden, 1
• Demobilize dive site and dive
Maritime Archaeology Proposal, SML. Niall Brady, Nov 2007, 4 of 5
Day Item Requirements/Logistics
equipment
• Laboratory 2: Preparing the • NB
Smuttynose/Gosport Harbour
/Project Archive
• Lecture 8: Maritime • NB (instructor),
Archaeology and the Legislation Powerpoint Projector
• Lecture 9: Making a career and
Maritime Archaeology
• Assignments due; In-class test • NB
• Party •
6 • Demobilization and leave •
Appledore
7 • Niall leaves Appledore once •
class equipment has been stored
* will conform to Island protocols
** variation on Day 4 is due to the possibility that Gary Kozack might be available to give
presentations to the classY
Maritime Archaeology Proposal, SML. Niall Brady, Nov 2007, 5 of 5
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